RCM Buzzwords That Still Haunt Us
Because some words refuse to die, they just rebrand themselves every fiscal year. Every
Halloween, hospitals brace for familiar frights: billing ghosts, denial demons, and coding
vampires lurking in the ledger. But the truest hauntings come not from the supernatural, but from
one persistent force: RCM buzzwords. These words never die. They rebrand, evolve, and return
wearing new acronyms in every PowerPoint deck. One year it’s “automation”; the next, “AI-
powered efficiency.” By the time you finish the webinar, the word has already shape-shifted.
Join RCR|HUB for a spine-chilling tour through a decade of RCM’s most persistent buzzwords
and a look at what’s lurking around the corner in 2026.
2015 – ICD-10
The year coders brewed extra coffee and managers braced themselves. The ICD-10 transition
loomed like a horror movie: 68,000 new codes, endless denial risk. Hospitals feared disaster;
consultants promised rescue. ICD-10 still rattles chains during compliance audits.
2016 – Value-Based Care
Promised to “change everything,” linking payment to outcomes sounded revolutionary until
payer requirements and complexity struck back. The concept remains both noble and elusive: a
vampire idea that never quite dies.
2017 – Patient Engagement
Portals, apps, and a promise of better communication: engagement became the word on every
RCM slide, but most patients never remembered their passwords. Now, “patient access” with
modern scheduling optimization solutions that actually integrate with EHRs has taken center
stage.
2018 – Interoperability
Vendors swore their systems would “talk to each other,” but too often, it sounded like static.
Still, the push led to today’s use of integrated APIs, which finally let patient data travel more
freely (sometimes even bypassing those “manual upload” ghosts).
2019 – Automation
Before AI-dominated headlines, automation was the buzzword. Digital “bots” became staff who
never called in sick—sometimes they just automated the chaos. Still, this movement paved the
way for today’s AI-driven workflows.
2020 – The Digital Front Door
The COVID-19 pandemic made digital access a must. Hospitals scrambled to create portals,
chatbots, and telehealth tools, and “Digital Front Door” became the new entrance for care. Now,
those early portals have evolved into that handle eligibility, scheduling, and verification from the
first click.
2021 – Denial Prevention
Denials haunted every CFO’s dreams; “denial prevention” was the key. With analytics, hospitals
moved from reactive management to predictive prevention. Now, predictive engines and AI-
assisted tools make this ability much more achievable.
2022 – Data Analytics
Dashboards became crystal balls—everyone wanted “actionable insights,” even if they didn’t
always act on them. But analytics matured as the backbone of modern RCM, predicting missed
referrals and payer behavior. This trend was driven by renewed post-pandemic investment: The
Bain & Company 2022 Healthcare Provider IT Report found that leaders increasingly prioritized
analytics, automation, and patient-facing IT for transformational impact.
2023 – Workforce Transformation & The People Problem
Labor shortages and burnout went mainstream in 2023, making “workforce transformation” the
buzzword of survival. But this time, solutions evolved:
Automation and digital tools offloaded repetitive tasks to technology
Hospitals introduced augmentation strategies—retaining core staff while supporting them
with AI, bots, and virtual teammatesUpskilling gained traction, retraining existing staff to thrive in a blended tech-human
environmentFlexible staffing models grew, with remote teams and new partnerships bridging volume
spikes and specialty gapsProviders leaned into strategic hiring, creative retention, and technology partners—all to
ensure the right balance of headcount, skill, and resilience for the years to
come.guidehouse
2024 – Automation 2.0 & Generative AI Take Over
By 2024, automation got a major upgrade. “Robotic process automation” (RPA) evolved into AI-
assisted orchestration, and for the first time, generative AI entered the RCM mainstream. This
technology began handling everything from prior authorizations, to appeal drafting, to workflow
transformation in real time.waystar.
There was a real toss-up among RCM leaders about which buzzword defined the year:
“Automation 2.0,” with smarter, more integrated AI baked into everyday tasks
“Generative AI,” powering document creation, real-time authorization, and creative
process improvements“Predictive analytics,” turning real-time dashboards into the norm for forecasting
denials and lost revenue“ROI-driven automation,” as decision-makers finally demanded concrete, measurable
results.The push for a “digital front door” evolved further, with omnichannel patient touchpoints
and a new focus on consumer-grade experience. In summary: 2024’s automation
transitioned from a buzzword to an expectation—smarter, measurable, and integral to
day-to-day RCM operations
2025 – Artificial Intelligence
This year’s king of buzzwords—but this time, the hype matches reality. AI codes, verifies,
predicts, and audits faster than any manual redesign.
The Black Book 2025 RCM KPI Framework confirms it: AI-led vendors are now outperforming
traditional peers by double digits. This is one ghost hospitals are happy to see.
2026 –? Rosie?
If 2026 marks the dawn of autonomous AI in healthcare, envision the future as something
straight out of The Jetsons. Imagine Rosie the Robot: endlessly helpful, incredibly efficient, but
sometimes a source of comic chaos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-rVeOh1I-
uY
As AI systems become the “Rosies” of RCM, managing everything from claims to denials to
revenue analytics, the most crucial role isn’t the robot or even the algorithm itself. It’s George
Jetson at the helm.
AI will “learn,” adapt, and automate more routine work than ever, but guiding this technology
into new areas will rely on smart, innovative RCM leaders on both the Provider and Business
Partner sides. Visionary leadership will be essential to set priorities, manage risks, foster partnerships, and ensure that new AI “crew members” improve care and outcomes, not just
reduce labor.
Rosie may handle the chores, but only with proactive, strategic pilots can healthcare navigate
tomorrow’s challenges. In the era of AI and automation, the spirit of George Jetson, adaptable,
forward-thinking, and hands-on, will be essential for Revenue Cycle teams aiming to lead, not
follow.
The Moral of the Story
Buzzwords come and go, but progress sticks. Each haunting leaves something useful: data
discipline from interoperability, smarter workflows from automation, inventive team models
from workforce transformation, and now, intelligence from AI.
Happy Halloween, at RCR|HUB, we’ll keep separating the tricks from the treats, connecting
providers and business partners who are moving beyond buzzwords to build the next generation
of intelligent RCM.